A procedure for taking resistance readings on the skin was formalized by Dr. Reinhold Voll, M.D., in the 1950's. Voll developed the Dermatron, a solid-state, non-computerized device with a single ohmmeter that measured with a direct current (DC). The Dermatron was calibrated to read DC resistance from about 1 million ohms to 0 ohm. Voll set the scale on the Dermatron to read from 0 (for 1 million ohms) to 100 (for 0 ohm). Today this scale is given in units called volls.
Voll called his procedure Electroacupuncture According to Voll or EAV. He measured resistance at the location of classical Chinese acupuncture points and at locations that he and other medical doctors discovered. Voll called each location a measurement point or MP.
When Voll used the Dermatron, the patient held a metal ground cylinder in one hand, while Voll touched a measurement point (MP) on the other hand with a stylus type probe. After touching the MP, Voll observed the resistance reading rise to a maximum. After the reading reached the maximum, Voll continued to hold the probe on the skin, and he watched for a drop in the reading. As long the reading dropped, Voll kept the probe contacting the skin. When the reading remained level for a few seconds, Voll would stop the reading by lifting the probe from the skin. He would then manually record the maximum value and the difference between the maximum value and the lowest value after the drop. He called the difference the indicator drop or ID. The time for the ID was variable and the time was not recorded.
Today EAV is often called Electro Dermal Screening or EDS, because the name Electroacupuncture According to Voll has been confused with the process of attaching electrodes to acupuncture needles that are inserted into the skin, a process also called electroacupuncture.
Subsequent studies have established the scientific basis for EAV/EDS. An IEEE publication shows the use of an ohmmeter to measure acupuncture points. Further, the study presents the electrical properties of the skin and particularly at the acupuncture points.
Another device for measuring energy at acupuncture points was developed by Yosio Nakatani in 1950, which he called Ryodoraku. An operator manually measured with a single ohmmeter on the Ryodoraku device in a manner similar to the procedure used with the Dermatron.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,344 to Popp discloses an apparatus in the form of a single probe with multiple needle-like sensors to measure a single acupuncture point. Further, Popp disclosed a method for using a computer to analyze the statistical distribution of the readings and compare the statistical distribution of the readings.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,762,609 to Alanen discloses a device which measures, through the use of a probe, skin surface hydration as a capacitance value.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,052,472 to Miller discloses a device which measures the level of skin perspiration using a conductance sensing system for detecting symptoms of hypoglycemia.
In 1980, the present inventor developed a computerized EDS device. Because his technology was the first computerized EDS device, he called it Computerized EDS or CEDS.
The measurement apparatus for CEDS, like EAV/EDS or Ryodoraku, is a single ohmmeter operated by a person, but the measurement data is analyzed, stored, displayed and printed using a digital computer in communication with the ohmmeter. The method for CEDS uses computer algorithms to analyze the resistance measurements to determine a dynamic set of values B Maximum Resistance (Max), Minimum Resistance (Min), the rate of increase (Ris) of resistance to the Maximum Resistance, and the rate of decrease (Fal) from the Maximum Resistance to the Minimum Resistance. The Max, Min, Ris, and Fal are computed after the reading is taken by the operator. Max is the highest resistance reading value obtained after the operator touches the acupuncture point or other MP. The Ris is the average slope of the resistance curve from the time the operator touches the MP and the time the maximum resistance is reached, i.e. the increase in resistance divided by the time elapsed to reach the maximum resistance. The maximum resistance point is ascertained so the operator may then observe for any drop in the reading as Voll established for EAV/EDS. The Min is a lower steady state resistance value reached after the drop in the resistance reading after the Max is reached. The Fal is the average negative slope of the resistance curve from the time the maximum is reached and the time the Min is reached, i.e. the decrease in the resistance from the Max to the Min divided by the time elapsed between the Max occurrence and the Min occurrence.
Voll mentions the rate of increase of the resistance as an important way to locate an MP. However he taught that the ID presented the most useful information for the MP's condition. For preferred embodiments of the present invention, the ID is not used.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,617 to Brewitt, the inventor discloses that the Max, Min, Ris and Fal values from each reading are analyzed. The inventor discloses that she uses the CEDS device, also referred to as the LISTEN device, which was developed by the present inventor, for making the measurements.
For CEDS, Clark also developed a signal generator and a database of signals that simulated homeopathic and other products when the signals were output. The operator selected products to be output and controlled when a signal was turned ON or OFF. The present-day Dermatron is computerized as are many other EAV/EDS devices from other manufacturers. All the known devices use a single DC ohmmeter under manual control.
Some computerized EAV/EDS type devices have been marketed under the names such as Eclosion, Phazx BodyScan, QXCI, and SCIO. The manufacturers have asserted that their respective devices measure signals using bands placed around the head and the wrists without the need of an operator. The developers for each of these devices state that they measure the body's resonance/reactance pattern. The Phazx website (phazx.com) states that BodyScan and QXCI are based on EAV and that BodyScan records voltage, frequency and current measurements. The devices apparently require a human operator making the measurements using a single EAV/EDS probe.
The Limbic Stress Assessment (LSA) System from Vaughan R. Cook, OMD at The Digital Health Clinic, which apparently is also associated with Zyto, has a touch plate with multiple positions to place the fingers. The LSA System supposedly records and analyzes subconscious responses. The developer for this device claims that it is used to create a personalized “Stress Profile” of the subject that guides the practitioner in making decisions for remedies and/or therapies. The LSA website (zyto.com) apparently discloses a galvanic skin resistance measuring device (GSR), which is the type of apparatus used by other EAV/EDS devices.
An objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for the selective, automated administration of one or more applied signals to one or more test zones on the skin of a subject for the completion of skin resistance measurements for each test zone. A test zone may be an MP as defined above or may be the area of the skin of the subject in contact with a contact pad or other signal applicator.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for the selective, automated administration of one or more applied signals, the applied signals comprising one or more applied signal segments which may be of positive or negative voltage, to one or more test zones on the skin of a subject for the completion of skin resistance measurements for each test zone.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for the selective, automated administration of one or more applied signals, the applied signals being a composite of one or more base signals of a selected constant voltage, positive or negative, and a stimulus signal with variable voltage segments which may be of positive or negative voltage, to one or more test zones on the skin of a subject for the completion of skin resistance measurements for each test zone.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for the selective, automated, and coordinated administration of one or more applied signals to one or more test zones on the skin of a subject for the completion of skin resistance measurements for each test zone.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for the selective, automated, and coordinated administration of one or more applied signals to one or more test zones on the skin of a subject for the determination, for each test zone, of a skin resistance time function, i.e. skin resistance as a function of time, for a selected time period.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for the selective, automated, and coordinated administration of one or more applied signals to one or more test zones on the skin of a subject for the determination, for each test zone, of a skin resistance time function, i.e. skin resistance as a function of time, for a selected time period and the extraction of other resistance functions or factors, such as maximum resistance and rate of change of resistance from the time of applied signal initiation to the time of maximum resistance.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for the selective, automated, and coordinated administration of one or more applied signals to one or more test zones on the skin of a subject for the determination, for each test zone, of a skin resistance time function, i.e. skin resistance as a function of time, for a selected time period, and the extraction of a resistance vector having the change in resistance as one vector component and the corresponding elapsed time as another vector component.